Court of Arbitration for Sport 49er Olympics Hearing Postponed

At the request of the NOC (National Olympic Committee) of Denmark, the ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has decided to postpone the hearing in the procedure CONI (Italian Olympic Committee) & COE (Spanish Olympic Committee) vs. ISAF (International Sailing Federation).

The hearing was initially scheduled for 22 August 2008 at 11:00am. It is now fixed for 23 August 2008 at 9:00am in Beijing, China.

Hearing Details:

SAILING - SKIFF DINGHY 49ER

THE NOCs OF ITALY AND SPAIN REQUEST THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT (CAS) TO DISQUALIFY THE DANISH TEAM FROM THE RACE AND TO RE-ALLOCATE THE OLYMPIC MEDALS

The ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has received an application from the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) against two decisions of the International Jury of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) related to the gold medal race of the 49er event which took place on 17 August 2008.

Shortly before the start of the gold medal race in the 49er class event on 17 August 2008, the Danish team (Warrer/Ibsen) was sailing towards the start line when the mast of their boat broke. As a consequence, the Danish team decided to use the boat of another team (Croatia) which had not qualified for the gold medal race. The Danish team finished 7th in the gold medal race and was ranked first in the overall ranking of this event. The Spanish team, which obtained the silver medal and the Italian team, which was ranked fourth, as well as the Race Committee, filed various protests which were all rejected by the ISAF International Jury. The two NOCs request the CAS to annul the ISAF International Jury decisions, to declare that the Danish team was not entitled to take part in the gold medal race, to disqualify the Danish team and to re-allocate the Olympic medals to the Spanish team (gold medal), to the German team (silver medal) and to the Italian team (bronze medal).

The panel of CAS arbitrators appointed to hear this matter is composed of Dr Stephan Netzle (Switzerland), President, Prof. Richard McLaren (Canada) and Ms Margarita Echeverria (Costa Rica).

A hearing in this matter will take place on 23 August 2008 at 09.00am. The hearing is not open to the public.

Court of Arbitration for Sport